No Dawn without Darkness
by Dawnless
Summary: The Champion of Ash gave his life once to link the flame but failed and was raised again to deliver the Lords to their thrones, Undeath can scar the mind and erode the heart. for the man who fought for centuries seeing humanity in this weakened, pitiful state is perhaps too much for him to bear
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone, contrary to the meta here this is NOT my first story, I wrote that story three years ago but I was never happy with the quality, so I discontinued it and spent my time instead learning what makes a good fanfiction, I learnt a lot from some of the best fanfiction writers around among them the legend himself Coeur Al'aran.**

 **Anyway, here's the story, enjoy.**

 _What is destiny, why are we bound to it unable to escape? Did we not used to say that man makes his own destiny? He decides his own future? So why then why do I stand here, at the footsteps of the first flame unable to decide my own fate? Why must I give up my life and suffer for an ungrateful world that would crumble again._

The ashen one stood gazing at the murky sky dominated by the dark sigil, his black Greataxe fell limply from his hand for he had no more strength to spare, beneath his helmet, his face was one of sorrow, doubt and most prominently rage, "I…I sought to save this world once before but I failed" he whispered, "And thus, you raised me again to carry out my wish… a wish I longer seek to fulfill" his voice louder this time and directed at the flame before him, the fire flickered at his words almost taunting him. He did not want to save this world anymore, what purpose would it serve if every friend he made died, perhaps once he wished to save it regardless but now he's grown bitter, thousands of years watching friends die and hollow jaded him.

Long ago, mankind fought alongside Lord Gwyn, it was their efforts that helped destroy the dragons, for they were the vanguard, humans were always strong willed even more so than the giants, they cared not if this battle would be their last or the next but when the dragons were defeated Gwyn cast a seal of fire upon humanity, a brand that would stop their power from growing, a sigil that would curse mankind until they lost their minds, then he erased the efforts of humanity from history, removing their pride as warriors, for Gwyn feared humanity for one reason and one alone, the Dark King, he would rise from humanity and be the direct antithesis to Gwyn's power, he trembled before the dark and thusly doomed humanity in his cowardice.

The champion of ash trudged towards the first flame "You cursed me, cursed my friends. Damned us all to this torment but now...now I curse you" the flame flickered again. The Lord of Hollows extended his hand over the flame, the fire resisted, for it knew what was to come, that the dark king has arrived to dismantle the flame and claim its power for his own, it writhed and struggled sending lashes of pain that brought the Ashen one to his knees, "You have no choice, just as I had none", the flame receded and within a few minutes it faded entirely. Up above, the crimson ring of the dark sign, the seal placed upon mankind by the ancient ones who feared humanity, faded. suffused by a white ring. The mark of humanity.

It was a cold day in the outskirts of vale, so far at the edge of the kingdom the cold only increased in magnitude due to the lack of civilization, on a dirt road cutting through the forest three green vehicles drove in silence, the vehicles were a type used by explorers and army personnel during scouting missions in the untamed lands beyond the kingdoms, they were fast, quiet and sturdy. "are you sure we are on the right track Azure? it feels like it's taking too long to get there?" a brown-haired man in his mid-thirties yelled over the whipping winds. "Definitely, the ruin grounds should be off the road just ahead" the man now identified as Azure replied "Maybe if you stopped doubting me every 10 miles we could have gotten there faster Capri" there were two other members in this vehicle excluding the driver and all of them wore the same brown cargo pants and white sleeved shirt with a brown vest.

"Captain Capri, I think we've reached our destination mam" a voice spoke through the two-way radio Capri peered out from the vehicle and saw a small ruin ahead. The ruin itself was nothing more than a small castle-like structure atop a small hill, trees and vines grew around it wildly further cementing the abandoned image the ruin held, with corroded stone walls and pillars barely holding it in place, so far away from civilization, this is uncharted territory, and they were the first to set foot here for a hundred years at minimum the structure could not be anything other than the ancient shrine they sought.

 _Finally! After all this time I've found it, the abandoned ruins that predates history itself, this has to be it. Its location is a perfect fit to the texts we found in vacuo_. Capri grinned at the thought of all the treasure she would find and the knowledge humanity would obtain from this excavation.

"may I ask what is it exactly are we looking at here?" one of the guards they hired to travel with them asked, "we have evidence to suggest that there may be an important historical relic here, from what we gathered the texts referred to it as 'Mankind's greatest weapon', it's probably just a stone relic that these people worshiped or something of that ilk but whatever it is, it has historical value and so we must retrieve it, what we find here today can change the world" Capri spoke with a gleam in her eye. "Now, there's no time to waste I want your men to set up a perimeter while we begin the excavation.

The mercenaries split up into two groups, one group guards the entrance and the other ventures into the ruins with the explorers.

The group entered the mouth of the ruins, the inside of the ruin had the appearance of an arena with a large open center and large stone seats standing imperiously above it.

"Spread out, look for anything we can carbon date. Azure, you inspect those seats up there, try to see if there are any carvings around it then scratch them down". The group followed Capri's commands each of them sifting through ash and dust.

A few minutes pass in absolute silence, each person working to their assigned tasks diligently

"Uhh, Capri? You need to see this" Azure called out from above. Capri climbed the stairs looping from the side of the arena and was greeted at the top by a sight she could never forget. A corpse was slouched in the center throne, the figure was covered from head to toe in dull silver armor, indents ran across the front and back giving the armor a ribcage-like appearance and at the center of the armor was a red ring forged to appear as though it was melting, his face was covered with a knight's helmet the top of which appeared to have a jagged crown-like appearance.

"Who do you think he might have been" Azure asked slightly disturbed by how the corpse was just left in the open without proper funeral rights. "It's likely since he was found on the throne he could be a person of authority or he could also be a grave robber who simply died while on the job, we shoul- ", her words were cut off by an ear-splitting scream that came from the mouth of the ruin

"WHAT IS HAPPINING!" Capri yelled and in response a hail of bullets erupted from the entrance, one such projectile lodged itself in her right thigh, she collapsed next to the throne, her blood seeping into the cracked stone floor. Four men rushed in through the entrance with machine guns, they wore white robes and their faces were obscured by a white mask with red linings, there was no mistaking it, the white fang is here.

Capri looked around from the floor and saw all her partners and guards murdered, she was the only one who survived the shower of bullets, she laid very still and tried to slow down her breathing, she doubted they were here only to kill them, if she can feign death long enough for them to be distracted then she may be able to escape.

The terrorists moved in to secure the area, "Alright now that that's dealt with what are we looking for here?" a large brute of a man wielding a two-handed axe on his back asked, "No idea, they don't tell us shit" his comrade wielding a saber on his hip aside from the machine gun grunted "All we are ordered to do is clear the place then wait for that woman to get her", on queue a woman with raven locks and amber eyes strode in, her movements were as elegant as her beauty.

She walked up the stairs of the arena next to the body of a fallen explorer staring briefly at the body, Capri stopped her breath and remained motionless, the woman's eyes flicked briefly to the corpse resting on one of the thrones then turned around and walked back down, Capri exhaled then rasped for breath softly, she was shaking out of fear, if that woman had looked at her for a second longer she would have been discovered, she thanked the corpse for taking the attention off her long enough.

"Bring her down"

Capri's heart froze, her eyes widened to see the white fang soldier hastily climb the steps and pull her to her feet.

"What a fortunate coincidence, it just so happens that in order to obtain the power hidden in these ruins we require a sacrifice" cinder gave her a cruel smile, one that spoke of her impending death.

Capri was stunned, power _? Is she mad?! These are nothing more than myths and legends, tales sung by civilizations long dead, they had no merit, was she about to die for something as idiotic as this?!_

"NO! please you must understand, there is no power here, It's just a myth!" Capri pleaded, she knew it was futile, when someone is obsessed with something almost nothing can dissuade them but she tried nonetheless.

"Hush now, is this not what you wanted? To discover something so grandiose that it changes the world? Well now you will do more than just discover it, you will become a part of it" cinder smiled again.

"Bring her to the center of the room" the grunts obeyed her commands and hauled Capri to the small circle of stone that stood in the center of the arena.

She fell into the small structure and for a moment nothing happened then suddenly and without warning her right foot caught on fire. Capri screamed, the fire seemed to burn her leg through to the very bone, she hopped out of the blaze that now spread into the circle but seemed to be contained within it, she shut her eyes to grit through the pain but also so she wouldn't see herself be thrown again into the fire, she waited for someone to grab her but none did.

She opened her sobbing eyes and looked around expecting to see everyone there staring at her but none were, they were all staring above her, she turned her head to see what it is they were staring at.

The corpse that was resting on the throne, it moved! A small twitch at first then the head rose, the steel groaning and cracking as it did then very slowly it got up onto its feet.

She couldn't believe this, a corpse just rose back from dead, it stood in front of the throne watching them, it tilted its head slightly, almost confused.

"What is this? Who are you? If you have taken the power hidden here then I suggest you give it up" cinder yelled, frustration evident in her voice, no doubt she didn't expect this to happen, she too couldn't believe it either, she expected the relic to be something made of stone at least.

The corpse laughed, it wasn't a joyous laugh, it was a laugh of sorrow and disappointment.

"You were right patches… every age is tainted by the greed of men, their hearts are as black as the souls which swirl within them, they know no honor or morals, blindly they stumble, forgetting those who laid down their lives to save them. For this I despise humanity..." the corpse stared at the ceiling as if talking to a phantom visible only to him, then looked back down.

"I will cleanse this world of the unworthy"

 **I originally based this story on a concept of fire vs fire, the Ashen one vs Cinder, that will happen but not In the way you might imagine, the ashen one will not be the hero of this story but rather will have his own agenda, anyway this story will get update once or twice a week, there's no fixed schedule yet because I am a child who can't organize his time properly.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys edgelord22 here, humanity humanity humanity.**

 **Now that that's out of the way, I am so sorry for the lack of updates, I said this would come out last week and I did finish it then but I thought It was too short and so I decided to postpone it and then stuff happened irl, I wont make any more promises I wont be able to keep. Having said that I will try to update a bare minimum of once in two weeks, ill try to make them over 5k words but if you see an update that's just 2k then it means I either was busy or I was weightlifting bananas at the local supermarket.**

 **Anyway enjoy**

"Kill him!" cinder fumed, her rage barely containable. She refused to believe that she has come all the way out here for nothing.

All four white fang soldiers took aim and unleashed a barrage of iron, pelting the man with bullets. Dust and ash kicked up, obscuring their view slightly, within seconds they had emptied most of their clips, against a normal civilian one bullet is all it would take, but against a person who had their aura unlocked they had to drain away his lifeforce first before a lethal shot can be taken.

"That should do it"

"No, wait" Cinder knew more than assume something like this would kill him, they were in the middle of nowhere with old and strong grimm wandering the area, there weren't any other methods of transportation outside other than the explorer's vehicles. The fact that he managed to survive all the way out here means either he's extremely powerful or he's not alone.

After a few seconds of absolute silence, the dust settled and revealed the figure still standing, not a scratch visible on his armor, not a drop of blood spilled.

Enraged, Cinder cast forth a stream of fire, coating everything in front of her in a blazing inferno. _Nothing can survive this, even if he lives his armor will have fused into his flesh._ Cinder smirked, she couldn't assume her victory yet, but the odds were in her favor. She relented her attack after a few seconds, stumbling forward only very slightly from exhaustion, that attack took a lot out of her, she couldn't afford to underestimate the enemy so she ensured to pool as much of her aura as she could into that attack. Cinder looked back to the throne, her expression fell.

"Impossible!" Cinder could not believe this, this man had not only survived both the white fang's bullets and her fire but his armor was completed unharmed.

"Your Pyromancy is weak, almost pathetic, your master did not teach you well, but you do show potential, your soul burns with ambition, an overwhelming desire to get stronger, even if greed fills your heart, I would not deny you your potential. I shall allow you to live if only to see how powerful you can become."

 _Pyromancy? Master? What is he talking about?_ Cinder couldn't dwell on his words right now, for all she knew he could be a lunatic, she readied herself for another attack but froze when he began to move.

The apparently immortal man turned to face the fang soldiers now trembling before him "I will not allow you to live however, you disgrace the names of the heroes who gave their lives for yours" he lifted his hand in front of him and a small orb of flame burst from his palm, he raised it over head then threw it at the white fang soldiers. The instant it left his hand it expanded fifty-fold into a larger orb surrounded by a fiery ring, these were the vestiges of the bed of chaos, the final remaining trace of the demon king's power, it landed at the center of the group and for a moment nothing could be heard over the sound of crashing flames and screams of agony. When it subsided nothing but the charred remains of the soldiers were left.

"When next we meet, if your flames cannot even singe me I shall revoke your right to live, now go."

Cinder grit her teeth, he dared insult her? She'd show him once she got the maiden's full power but for now she'd have to accept his offer and leave, she couldn't fight him at least not now.

"Before I go, I want to know who you are" Cinder knew she was pushing her luck sticking around but if she can find anything about this man then she can begin to understand what he meant.

He raised both arms wide apart "I am The Champion of Ash, The Lord-Slayer, The True Face of Humanity, I am The Unmaker of the Flame, you stand before The Dark King." He proclaimed, his imperious tone commanding respect.

Still facing him Cinder nodded then backed away towards the entrance, _Dark king? What a load of crap he's obviously a delusional maniac, but he's a powerful maniac. Savour this victory 'Dark King', the next time we fight, I'll make sure your death will be as painful as possible._

Capri could do nothing but watch as the woman who slaughtered her friends and nearly killed her fled. She looked towards her savior, thankful for his help even if he was literally a walking corpse, she watched him descend the steps and walk towards her.

"thank yo- "before she could even finish her sentence he had gripped her neck and hoisted her up to meet his eyes.

"Do not thank me just yet filth, you are far worse than these scum, I feel disgusted that a piece of your soul was used to resurrect me" his eyes seemed to smolder with red light beneath his helmet.

Capri struggled for breath, she felt his grip tighten and squirmed to break free, her vision began dimming, she firmly believed she was going to die.

His grip loosened at the last moment, right before she lost consciousness, Capri fell to the floor gasping for breath.

"however, I need knowledge of this world, you will tell me all that know, then I will leave you to your fate" Capri nodded weakly at his words still panting, she had no choice. She began telling him the history of remnant.

* * *

The Champion of Ash exited the ruins of Firelink shrine and absorbed his surroundings, dense trees and overgrowths bloomed all around him, the landscape had completely changed since he last saw this place, the mountains that surround the shrine are nowhere to be seen, replaced by a nearly flat forest landscape.

 _That woman told me the nearest human settlement is around five thousand kilometers from here, I should begin my search there. This world is bound to have at least a few worthy warriors._

He began walking in the direction given to him by the human he left for dead inside the shrine.

He always used wonder how patches managed to survive so long without hollowing, for such a vile person, he outlived even the most Nobel of undead, for he was alive since the very beginning all the way to the end of the world, a feat entirely unheard of.

There are two ways to maintain an undead's sanity: the first is to find a goal that you can work towards, an ideal you can follow and from that you can draw the will to resist hollowing however if you were to succeed and reach your goal then you would also hollow, the trick was to find a task that you can progress towards but never be able to achieve. No doubt Andre of Astora employed that same tactic to avoid hollowing, spending his years forging weapons for adventurers and then for warriors seeking to link the flame, improving his craft but never being able to supply all the heroes, for everyone undead that linked the fire a hundred more would come seeking his wares.

The second way to avoid hollowing was to simply steal humanity from a sane undead, but by there's a limit to how many times an undead can do that, stealing humanity deteriorates the soul, if one was to rely on the thieving of humanity then they would succumb to an endless craze for souls, going mad in the process much like the Darkwraiths of New Londo, mindless horrors who lost all purpose in life.

So then, how did patches maintain his sanity?

Patches understood a vital part of what it means to be human, that all men are selfish, they desire something and will go through the abyss itself to obtain it. Some would want for treasure, others would seek the satisfaction wrought from helping the weak and needy and some simply wish to follow their king's orders even to their last breath. They may deny that their actions are rooted in selfishness but they know, deep in their hearts that they spout lies. The curse of life is the curse of want, it is simply the way we are.

But true to his words, Patches was devoid of worldly wants, he sought nothing, for when he thieved it was never for himself and when he killed it was never out of hatred but a desire to punish sinners. He was already hollow to begin with so how could he lose his sanity, he moved forward and never looked back.

The Ashen one sighed. _A sad day it must be when I begin to admire patches._

In the beginning the Ashen One believed that through his sacrifice and the work of countless other undead people would live in peace, free of the terrors that lurked in Lordran and free of the curse of undeath but he never could have foreseen the price that peace would cost, humans have grown incredibly weak, so much so that they were hunted to near extinction. They laid down their blades and forgot their saviours even going so far as to forgo the strength necessary to defend themselves and relying on others to do it for them. They live meaningless lives, forfeit of purpose.

One day this age will end and the age of grey will come again, the dragons will return and the world will stagnate. Humans were meant to suffer and through that pain they attain strength, the same strength they used to fight the Everlasting dragons, centuries of fighting and struggling, all for naught because he could not see past his own selfish desires.

Strange, when once he set out to erase the flame, now he wished he had never extinguished it.

 _It's not too late, I can still fix this, I can undo my errors and save Mankind._

The Ashen one snapped back from his thoughts to see his feet had taken him to his destination, time moved so quickly for an undead, it gave him a moment to cool his temper, it would not do to rush into events unprepared, he opened the leather satchel hanging from his belt and pulled out a box, to anyone else it might look like a mundane wooden square but the truth was that this item was a vault in of itself, an armoury housing all his weapons and armour, he didn't know exactly how it worked, he had bought it off an insane merchant back in Lordran when he first began his quest to link the fire. He pulled out a change of clothes and placed his current armour into it, the box widened to allow his gear through its edges.

That woman told him of the state of the world but he could not believe her, how could all the strength they have amassed be wasted, how could they sink so low that they would be devoid of the conviction to fight.

His proof was right in front of him

A massive door sealed the entrance to a walled village with watchmen standing on top of the walls, each of them holding weapons similar to that those terrorists were using, it was truly an eyesore, during the time of Lordran walls were only built to contain threats not keep them out. _They live in fear of monsters, cowering in their holes like rats._

The Ashen one looked down on his garb, it was the same set worn by Ringfinger Leonhard minus the mask, his armour would be too imposing since no one used armour in this age, standing out would not do him good, he was immortal but that does not mean he could not be captured

"who's there?" one of the guards yelled from on top of the wall.

"I am a wanderer, I wish to see the people of this village" were it not for the fact that he had calmed down he would have destroyed the gate then and there, but he had to see it for himself, he had to see what Mankind has become.

The guards looked to each other, one of them shrugged and moved to open the gate despite the traveller's weird reason they couldn't leave a man to walk around out there alone.

The great door creaked open, the hinges were pulled using some sort of machination, _technology_ _has made life easy for them, too easy._ He walked through the gate and started inspecting the village, it was huge, as villages go, on the left side was what appeared to be the residential district, the houses were made of red brick, some slated with marble others painted white and blue,, the ground was paved with onyx stone with children playing on its sides, on the other side was a large market, with stalls and shops open, they sold foods like bread and fish and wares like pots and blades.

He saw a group of men entering a large building with a round board depicting a mug hanging above the entrance, they looked like workers, spending their off time at an inn.

He followed them into the inn and looked around, he did not look at the people themselves but rather he looked at their souls. The ability to see souls was something every undead obtained, it allowed them gauge the enemy's strength but most of all it revealed what kind of person they were, some people have dull, faded souls these people were the weakest, they lacked any form of strength. The shimmering red soul was held by those who sought strength and would go as far as to steal it from others, like the fingers of Rossaria, then there were those who gleamed a golden light, those were the true heroes.

The mere sight of their souls was enough to make him sick, none of them held a sliver of power, or even a desire to obtain it. He moved the one whose soul shown the brightest.

It was dull, extremely so but he would find no better person to answer his question, he looked to be in his thirties, he had white hair and a beard, most likely the local lumberjack, judging by the muscle growth in his arms and back, and the woodcutting axe laid beside him.

The Ashen one sat beside him and wasted no time, "Tell me pale one, do you desire to become strong"

The lumberjack put down his mug and smiled "What kind of introduction is that? Usually people start with a 'hello'."

"Answer my question that I may carry on my work"

The man furrowed his brows "everyone wants to become strong, it's not just me, not having to worry so much about grimm attacks would be nice, but that's why we have huntsmen no?"

The Ashen one shook his head "If you do want to become strong then, why don't you? You can train to fight with a sword, build your body to be able to wield it"

The pale man laughed "I wish I could my friend but I simply don't have the time, I gotta earn money to be able to feed my family"

"And what happens when these monsters tear through the walls and attack your family"

The lumberjack frowned "That's not gonna happen, and even if it does, the huntsmen will come save us"

The Ashen one sighed "I see.. you are weak by choice, having that burden lifted off of you for so long, you forgot the threat that looms above you, as a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, so too is mankind only powerful if everyone can fight, you rely on the fact that your huntsmen would not be outnumbered, and thus you train them from childhood and rush them into their deaths just so you could sleep soundly, one day they will be outnumbered and it will fall to people like you to fight."

"Whats wrong with you man?" the lumberjack eyed him angrily, unsure if he's just insane or already drunk

"I have committed a sin, please... allow me to repent"

* * *

"Professor, you asked to see me?"

Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon academy looked up to his deputy, his face was set in a deep frown, a serious expression he only wore when he was troubled.

He was sat at his office chair, behind him was a view many would pay great sums to see, but the professor would not be able to enjoy it today.

"Yes Glynda, take a look at this" he extended his scroll to her, she gently took it from his hand and began to read through the file he had received.

"A frontier village was burned to ground" Glynda shook her head mournfully, "Could simply be the work of bandits, it's not uncommon for outlying settlements to be completely destroyed in a matter of days, sadly there's not much we can do about it." As always Glynda was too quick to judge, perhaps it's a habit born from correcting too much schoolwork too quickly.

"While it is truly unfortunate what happened to them I cannot shake the feeling something much worse is about to befall vale" Ozpin took the scroll back from Glynda's hand and flipped through a few images of the scene.

"I'm afraid I don't see what worries you so much, perhaps you could enlighten me" Glynda took the seat in front of Ozpin's desk, anyone else would have chalked up his suspicions as paranoia but Glynda had known Ozpin for a very long time, he's not a man to be taken lightly, his position as headmaster alone speaks for his wisdom.

"It's not the event itself that worries me but the method" Ozpin flipped the scroll over to reveal an image of the village, the image was as one might expect from a village that was burned down but there was something odd, small craters appeared all around the village, some larger than others with the land around the craters being completely scorched, the stone around the pits themselves had a deep black colour.

"If we go by the fact that all the inhabitants of the settlement were burned to death without any signs of weapon wounds and the fact that these craters are in the shape of concentric circles, I'd wager someone manged to 'pump' fire through the ground and cause it to erupt throughout the whole village, no doubt it would also cause a sort of 'firestorm' effect incinerating everyone in it" Ozpin concluded, taking a sip of his coffee.

"You mean to say the new half-maiden burned it down?" Glynda frowned, no one else possessed this kind of power and there are no known weapons that are capable do things like pump fire through the ground.

"Highly unlikely, she stands to gain absolutely nothing from this, in fact this goes against everything she's been doing until now, it's possible someone with no morals unlocked a powerful semblance and has been testing its limits, it would explain the rather creative execution method."

"Why test it on people though? They must know it would draw attention."

"Perhaps that was exactly what they wanted," Ozpin paused for a moment to flip through his scroll, "There was a small holding cell in that village, nothing fancy but it did hold two prisoners, one fifty-year-old Gerald Wulf, an ex-military officer discharged on suspicions of aiding the white fang, he fled the city two years ago. The other was twenty-seven-year-old Aero Whitemane, a fanatic murderer obsessed with 'summoning demons' using blood drawn from his victims" Ozpin turned over his scroll, revealing the mugshots of the criminals.

"Both their bodies were not found among the pile of corpses, the prison doors were also destroyed, broken completely off their hinges, I doubt freeing them was this person's original intent, it would have been much safer to simply break them out and escape silently, it's almost as if they want us to get involved, nevertheless we should wait for more information before we start worrying about another terrorist uprising."

"I'll send word to the neighbouring settlements to look out for them, will that be all headmaster?"

"Yes Glynda, that's all for now" Ozpin nodded, setting his scroll aside, as she got up to leave Ozpin turned to gaze out of the window of his tower, a small habit he picked up working in beacon, _another unknown, I fear what this might entail_.

 **A/N: this was supposed to be longer but I felt bad making people wait so long so I just uploaded it, and for those who asked yes there were supposed to be line breaks in the first chapter but formatting messed it up. I'll try to not be a lazy scrub and actually write more. Tell me if you want longer chapters or more frequent updates, also thanks to the people who reviewed, in the words of Jake Paul "I like to be drilled" because I want to improve.**

 **Ps: The Baz favourited this story, I am now famous**


	3. Chapter 3

hnngg, ok look im sorry i had alot of things going on with my uni, i couldnt so much as write a single line, also another issue i faced is that i realized just how much i still need to learn before i write a story, i thought that my previous attempts had taught me something but i either learned nothing or not enough, one such problem is the pacing issues, i cant make the pace feel not rushed for some reason, its just not working out for me, i rewrote this chapter 4 times because of this issue, anyway here's the chapter, ill wont discontinue this story because its good practice atleast, i hope you guys will bear with my pacing problems.

* * *

Blessed are the torch-bearers, who bring light to darkness.

Blessed are the valorous, who defy injustice.

Blessed are the virtuous, who protect the helpless.

Blessed are the righteous who hold no prejudice.

The Unkindled kneeled on the ground surrounded by endless mountains of ash with towers and castles converging into one another all around him, as if he was trapped in a dream of endless worlds colliding with each other, in front of him a battered body rested face down in the ashes, it was the body of the soul of cinder, an amalgamation of all the lords who linked the fire, a creature with so many powers and fighting styles, he used techniques known only to secular clans and powers wielded by mythical kings from before history was recorded, he was no regular foe that much was certain.

The ash tried to stand, to move closer to the flame, that he might fulfill his goal but the soul of cinder as if in response to his attempt, although battered and broken, it moved, it stood up again and held its blade up in a stance, that was familiar to the champion, but not one that he can place, if he knew it before then knowledge of his combat style would be beneficial, he racked his mind trying to remember where he saw that pose before, his eyes widened in recognition and it brought rage and sorrow to the champion's heart.

His stance was that of Gwyn, Lord of Sunlight.

"You..." the champion growled "ARE YOU NOT CONTENT WITH WHAT YOU'VE DONE? THIS DEAD WITHERED WORLD, A PRODUCT OF YOUR SELFISHNESS, IS THIS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU? YOU ARE THE CAUSE OF ALL MY MISERY, THE ONE WHO CURSED ME TO THIS FATE"

The soul of cinder did not answer, instead it inched closer to the champion, in silent determination to protect the embers of the flame, a relic of an age whose death is long overdue.

"still you fight… still you persist, even after all these years. You feel my ambition don't you Gwyn? You know why I am here? Is that why you clawed your way back? You're so desperately trying to save your age of fire that you refuse to die?"

The champion of ash stood back up, drinking what remained of his Estus, a magical substance that rejuvenates the undead who drinks it, he tossed the flask to the side.

"come Gwyn, it is time to rest"

The ashen one awoke from his small slumber, he did not need to sleep, but took comfort in the act as it reminded him of his humanity and was a good way to contemplate and reflect on his thoughts, meditation was a skill he acquired from his short tenure in Archdragon's peak, for the only way to reach is was to clear one's mind and reflect upon his soul, he found that it was a soothing experience and now that the bonefires were out of reach, he would take what comfort he can get. He sat up from the ground, around him was another site now covered in moss and dirt, an ancient arena made of cobblestone, once this was where the undead legion of Farron trained and practiced their swordsmanship, the Undead legion was caravan of undead, sworn by the blood of the wolf to battle the abyss, no matter where it may arise, the legion's crusade was indiscriminate, they would slaughter man, woman and children if they so much as suspected they were tainted, they took no chances and would bury entire civilizations in a matter of days, their steel tipped helmets became an omen of death. But now it was merely a shell of its former self, with most of the roof gone and animals nesting in its corners.

The champion moved to the one piece that remained intact, a stone coffin emblazoned with emblems of the legion, the goblet that once stood atop it now long gone, he placed his hand over the coffin and heaved, easily pushing away the massive coffin and revealing stairs that led underground, he pulled out a torch from his bottomless box and lit it using his pyromancy, then began descending the stairs.

He crossed a stone bridge, the torch's light illuminating the dark chasm around him. Once this was a thriving capital, home to mercenaries and sellswords, it was ruled by a king whose ambition was second to none, as a child he would watch as soldiers marched through his kingdom's gates to fight in a massive war that spanned 7 kingdoms, he was born to family of commoner soldiers, though their skills were exceptional, they were retired and did not partake in the war, the child took comfort in that fact but the war grew more strenuous with each day and one day they were called to fight on behalf of their king, they could not reject the call, as it was a crime punishable by death, they promised the young child that they would return to him but as the days passed they never did, this scarred the child greatly and he grew bitter and resentful, not just at the war itself but at the kings who sat comfortably at their thrones while their soldiers bled and died for what he believed was a pointless and childish cause, the death of his parents also instilled fear into the young man, fear of mortality, fear of death, he realized just how easy it was for him to die, to vanish into an endless void, and that terrified him. he decided to trained every day, he practiced his swordsmanship everyday with the grim determination to change his unfair world, never once resting, he thought of nothing more than his two wishes, to avenge his parents and to conquer death, when he became of age to be a warrior _,_ his unparalleled skill and tenacity earned the respect of many warriors who followed him into battle, soon he had a small army of mercenaries, he revolted against his king, had him executed and his crown taken, the warrior then led his newfound army to conquer the remaining 7 kingdoms through a long and arduous campaign, he always fought at the frontline of his armies, one would think that fear of death would make a man cower, but not him, his fear only gave him strength, his armies admired his single-mindedness and strength and soon he captured the 6 other kings he did not kill them outright but waited until each one was caught then, with the kings still alive ground their bones into a crown, a crown befitting of a conqueror such as himself.

The Conqueror then moved on to fulfill his second wish, to conqueror death itself, he sat with sorcerers and clerics, sent for potion masters to find him an elixir of immortality, he searched for what seemed like an eternity to him, and soon he became desperate, the Conqueror's fear had caused him to lose all his morality and he turned to ancient forbidden arts, cursed spells never to be used by men, his hubris cause a small taint of the abyss to seep into the city, he believed it was so infinitesimal that it would cause no harm, but he would soon be proven wrong, as the Undead Legion descended upon the city and slaughtered all its residents, when they breached the gates to his quarters, they discovered it was too late and that the king had gained immortality, the Legion had no recourse but to lock him away to contain the abyss that was now overflowing from the cursed king, surrounding him and all those around him, it was then that the king was gripped by a new fear, fear of the dark, he pleaded for aid from the Lords who bestowed upon him holy bracers to protect him from the dark. The king could not escape his prison he could only wallow in it, surround by darkness with his newfound immortality, he wasted away, taking small comfort in the holy bracers.

He was the Conqueror of Carthus, High Lord Wolnir.

* * *

Ruby stood in the middle of a graveyard, tombstones stretched further than the eyes can see, the grave was surrounded by a light fog with dead weeds growing all around her, the sun was replaced by a black void, ringed with silver light that seemed to seep from the void, above her she saw a gigantic stone tower , at its peak a massive steel bell tolled, the sound of its chimes were rhythmic carrying a foreboding sense of sorrow reverberating across her chest, she ignored the bell in favor of the man in front of her, he was kneeling, holding his own head in his hands above a faintly lit fire, Ruby tried to look away but she couldn't, her body wouldn't move , she saw the mouth of the head open and swallow the embers of the fire. The ground began to rumble and a pale arm began emerging from one of the graves, followed by another, it pulled its head out of the ground. The soulless sockets of a skeleton looked directly at her, half buried in dirt.

Ruby awoke from her sleep with a startle, she doesn't usually have nightmares but they do come once in a while, she picked up her scroll that was lying beside her and looked at the time. It was 6:00 AM. She never usually woke up this early, but now that she was awake she couldn't go back to sleep.

She got up and attended to her morning chores then made her way to the cafeteria, unsurprisingly the only four people she recognized there were: Blake, Ren, Wiess and Pyrrha. They were almost always the only early risers.

"hey guys!" she waved cheerily as she approached them, Blake let down her book and raised an eyebrow at her "you're up early, that's quite unlike you Ruby."

"I can get up early if I really I wanted to you know, it's not that hard" ruby whined.

"Good morning Ruby" Pyrrha greeted from beside Ren who offered a small nod towards her.

She sat down beside Blake and immediately noticed a large congregation of students sitting around one table, she wasn't sure how she didn't notice them when entering the cafeteria, she tilted her head trying to see what they were all gathering around.

"They are curious about today's news" Pyrrha explained, noticing her curiosity.

It must be something big then, student in beacon don't normally read the news, at least not this amount of people is usually interested in it.

"what happened?" Ruby wasn't normally interested in the current news as its mostly politics and celebrity scandals but this genuinely interested her, if something happened that would cause this many people to want to know then it must be something extraordinary, not even the white fang's attacks attracted this sort of crowd.

Pyrrha gave Ren an exhausted look before speaking "An expedition party disappeared near the Black woodlands."

"Black woodlands.?" Ruby gave her a questioning look, she heard the name before somewhere so she knew it held some significance but she couldn't quite remember what it was.

"It's a massive uncharted forest overrun by Grimm just south of Mirefield, a small settlement." Ren explained "A rescue team was sent to recover them but they found nothing, it was almost as if the expedition crew vanished into thin air."

"oh." Ruby felt a little pang of sadness at that, while the risk of death for explorers outside settled areas was above average, such news wouldn't garner this much attention from beacon's students.

"Actually, that's not what they're interested in" Wiess explained, almost reading her thoughts, "the part that got them so vested is the police reports taken from the rescue team, all of them claim to have seen 'living skeletons' walking through the forest" Wiess used air quotes to highlight the ridiculousness of such an idea.

"of course, that's what they claim to have seen, it could have been just Grimm hiding between the foliage or something else" that seemed like the most plausible explanation to Pyrrha after all, skeletons? That's just too outlandish.

Ruby's eyes widened, could it be connected to the dream she had? There's no way, right? Unless she had two semblances and one of them was precognition, thinking that would just be silly. This is just a coincidence.

"My guess is that it's a new species of grim, perhaps as Pyrrha suggested, the foliage obscured most of their physique, making them appear like huma- "Ren was interrupted by a loud blaring siren.

"what's that?" Ruby got up from her seat startled

"That's the city's defense alarms, it means that Grimm have breached the walls" Ren explained, his brow furrowing.

"Grimm in the city? That's impossi-" Wiess was interrupted by a loud crash coming from vale, it sounded like a massive dust bomb was set off.

Almost everyone got up from their seats, running to the windows, Ruby saw a sight she never thought she would ever see.

"what…the hell" Ren whispered in disbelief

A colossal skeleton, wearing a tattered black robe and an enormous crown was tearing through the city, with a massive glowing sword it was blasting away entire buildings, people were flung hundreds of meters into the air, as if they were nothing more than ants in its way, the defense forces were firing missiles at it but it doesn't seem to be doing any damage.

The schools PA systems sounded warnings "all first year students are to head to the school shelter immediately, all second years and above are to report to the courtyard immediately"

Ruby saw Coco and her team rush past her, they were probably gonna be asked to fight that thing, she still couldn't believe what she was seeing, had her dream been a warning? If so then how? And why? It didn't make any sense to her but she didn't have time to think about it.

She saw Nora and the rest of their teams come in, fully armed.

"did you guys see that thing?" Nora yelled in barely concealed excitement.

"if you think we are going to go fight that thing then you have another thing coming" Wiess being the only voice of reason as usual

"right?" she looked around and to her dismay no one was agreeing with her

"you have got to be joking, ok, let me rephrase. We can't go out there because we weren't told to fight it"

"but we weren't told not to" Nora said, a massive grin splitting her face, her logic was infallible.

"guys! It's a massive living skeleton, we aren't trained to fight skeletons!"

"what's the matter jaune? Scared?" Yang teased

"he's right, we have no idea what's going on right now, its best to leave it to our seniors…" Pyrrha tried to reason but it was clear most of them were going to go fight it.

"fine, but we'll stick together at all times and don't engage until we are sure we can take it out to begin with" Wiess looked outside the window and saw the colossus spew black fog from its mouth.

"Yea, we'll also need gas masks"


	4. Chapter 4

_**ima fibbin cry, its like the more i reread the first 2 chapters the more i lose motivation, how could such unholy trash come out of these fingers. oh well. please roast me in reviews. i cant improve unless someone points out i missed a period on the 45th line, im not a native english speaker so this counts as learning in a way.**_

 _ **also i got a message from someone who didnt understand the motives of the Ash so ima just explain it here, it was already told in the story so its not like im revealing anything. basically he believes that the living nightmare that humans had to go through ie: lordran, Drangleic. etc was the reason why humans became strong enough to survive, he believes that these trials are necessary for humanity in order to maintain their strengths and that by getting rid of them he made humanity weaker. he believes that the age of dragons will at some point come close so he wants humans to be ready for them when that time comes.**_

 _ **also sorry for not updating. im not a functioning member of society so my life is a mess.**_

 _ **enjoy.**_

* * *

Both teams arrived to the battlefield only to witness utter chaos, the giant skeleton had destroyed the entire block and the neighboring area as well, the destroyed concrete of what were once buildings and steel beams littered the cracked and upturned pavement, fires raged all around the destruction and lifeless arms could be seen sticking out from under the rubble.

"this many already..." Pyhrra whispered.

"Guys! Is no one bothered by the fact that we are about to fight a giant moving skeleton?! Look at what it can do, you guys still want to fight it?".

"we can think about the how later jaune, for now we need to try and stop that thing, if we let it keep going then more people are going to die" Wiess replied, looking over the rubble at the giant skeleton further ahead.

"fine but why does it have to be us? Don't you think there are people better qualified to deal with this than us? We're just students".

"and let this opportunity fly? Come on now jaune, its not everyday you get to fight a giant skeleton" Yang answered "so, any ideas on how to take it out?".

"assuming its bones are whats moving it, then its best we take out its arms" Wiess pointed towards the shoulders of the skeleton "its crawling so I'll assume it has no legs, if we take out its only method of transport it should be easy to incapacitate".

"what about those" Ruby pointed towards the skeletons stomach which was spewing black fumes out of which a number of smaller skeletons came out.

"jaune, yang and I will take care of those, and we have the masks incase that smoke is poisonous" Wiess pointed to the gas mask attached to her face.

"Nora, I need you to distract the big one" Wiess pointed to the colossus

"Aye aye" Nora saluted.

"Pyhrra and Ren will take out the left shoulder, Ruby and Blake, you get the right, after that we regroup here. any objections?".

Everyone nodded in agreement, it seems only she was able to think up of strategy in this situation and Wiess couldn't really blame them, they were fighting what appeared to be an actual undead, a spectacle like that is enough to leave anyone in awe.

"let's go"

It didn't take long to get closer to the thing. Yang, Jaune and her took their positions infront of the skeleton, all they had to do was hold off the smaller ones while everyone else gets into position.

"heads up" Yang warned as a trio of skeletons approached them, two were armed with curved swords while one was headless and holding a small buckler and spear.

Yang rushed in and tried to punch the headless skeleton, surprisingly the skeleton reacted and raised its buckler to block the attack. it was for naught however; the force of the punch broke through its arm entirely and into its chest causing it to explode into a pile of bone.

"maybe you guys should drink more milk" Yang laughed at her own joke

"Yang! Stay focused" Wiess reprimanded her. This was not the time for jokes.

"but yes, bones are not exactly the most sturdy of material on its own" Wiess explained dodging back to create distance between her and a skeleton that got too close, she injected ice dust into her rapier and plunged it into the ground, causing a sharp pillar of ice to emerge in front of the skeleton crashing through its torso and obliterating it into a shower of bone fragments.

Jaune seemed to have 'killed' his as well, evident by the pile of bone next to him

Wiess looked over the large skeleton and saw Nora standing on a nearby building, she nodded once to Blake and Ruby who stood on a nearby building then leapt off, using an explosion from her hammer to gain more momentum, she spun and brought her hammer down on the head of the giant skeleton. Her hammer struck true, earning her a resounding crack and causing the giant skeleton to stagger back letting out a low growl.

Ruby and Blake took the opportunity and jumped onto the giant's shoulder each of them rearing their weapons to try and cleave though the bone, their blades tore through the bone joint and were causing the entire arm to separate from the socket and fall to the ground, the arm shattered into multiple bones.

"Yes!" Yang cheered, this was too easy. Was this thing really a mythical creature or was it some new variation of Grimm?

The skeleton raised it right arm to the sky and a yellow light began to envelope its fist, a sword appeared out of thin air in its hand, the sword itself seemed to mimic the appearance of a skeleton with the blade being nothing more than a shell riddled with holes and gaps curving around a thin white blade.

It raised its hand and sent the blade crashing down at them.

"scatter!" Wiess ordered and dove into an alleyway, using her glyph to amplify her speed, the sword clove through the road causing two large plates to rise beside the blade where it dug into the pavement and sending a shockwave that caused her to mess up her landing and fall over.

She looked over the other side, to another alleyway and saw Jaune and Yang, both looked unharmed. The smaller skeletons took the opportunity and rushed to engage them in the alleyway, four of them closed in on Yang and Jaune.

She got up and tried to exit the alleyway but was blocked by two other skeletons. one with a straight sword and they other with an axe. She couldn't waste time here so she had to get rid of them fast.

She loaded a fire crystal into her rapier's dust chamber and fired it straight at the approaching pair, the fire engulfed them completely in a ball of flame, she prepared to use a glyph to move to her teammates but was surprised to see the skeletons come out unharmed from the blaze

In hindsight she should have expected that, fire has no effect on what were essentially walking bones with no nerves or muscles. This was bad, she wasted a fire crystal and some aura there but it wasn't unsalvageable.

She looked into her dust pack and saw she had two ice crystals and one lightning crystal, she couldn't use her rapier directly here as they essentially had no weak points and had to be destroyed in one go, she brought her rapier up to her face and activated her semblance, creating black gravity glyphs under the skeletons, she amplified the gravity to the point where the skeletons crumbled entirely, their bones being sucked into the ground.

That took a considerable amount of aura but it was better than using a dust crystal.

She had to regroup with her teammates, she made her way to the edge of the alleyway when suddenly she felt a burning sensation on her back she staggered momentarily, catching herself before falling she rolled away and turned around.

Another skeleton stood with a curved sword covered with blood, she wasn't expecting that attack so it got past her aura, the wound was deep but not too deep, those things were actually strong. She pumped aura into her back to close the wound, she was losing too much aura too quickly.

She dashed towards the skeleton and thrust her rapier forward, aiming for the chest she stopped just before the tip impacted the ribcage, a small white glyph appeared at the tip of the blade, she forced aura into the glyph activating it, the pulse of force instantly dismantled the skeleton, bones flying in every direction. whatever was holding them together wasn't doing a very good job.

She immediately ran towards the road, thankfully without being blocked again.

She noticed Yang and Jaune had already fought off their skeletons and regrouped with the everyone else on the main road.

She looked up towards the giant to see both its arms missing, Ren and Pyhrra must have broken it while she was fighting off the skeletons in the alleyway.

"Right, now we need to smash its ribcage and that should be the end of it"

"This is surprisingly easy, you'd think if it was arrogant enough to attack us in the middle of the city it would be a lot stronger" Yang sighed, Wiess was a little disappointed as well. if it were stronger then their victory here would mean a lot more, the media would paint them as true heroes who persevered in the face of a powerful enemy, however it's not like this victory wouldn't mean anything, they are sure to earn the public's favor here.

The giant let out an ear-screeching roar before freezing still, the black mist stopped pouring from its body and the smaller skeletons stopped appearing.

"That's it?" Yang complained

"yang! Don't raise that flag" Jaune yelled

The giant slowly reared its head back, for a few seconds it looked as if its simply gazing at the sky in peace, its mouth creaked open.

" **THE SUN'S SECOND-BORN CAME WITH LIFE, BROUGHT PEACE AND TRANQUILITY IN PLACE OF STRIFE, SUCH WAS HER GIFT TO THE WORLD, AN ENDLESS BOUNTY OF VITALITY AND LIGHT."**

The giant's voice was deep and booming, sending reverberations that rolled off her chest making her shudder.

"what. the. fuck." Yang swore, although she can be excused for such a situation, after all a giant moving skeleton which appeared out of nowhere was now talking, if Wiess didn't know better she'd say she was still dreaming but the small wounds that littered her body constantly told her otherwise.

The giant's arms which were discarded next to him began shifting, the bones moving on their own accord. They flew up and rejoined with his shoulders, both his arms recollecting themselves and reassembling in a matter of seconds. all their work reversed in an instant.

It let out a low growl and held its sword in reverse grip.

" **AND THOSE WHO WOULD'ST THE LORDS DEFY, CRASH UPON THEM THE FIRE'S JUDGEMENT. BEHOLDEN ART THEY, TO THE WRATH THAT WROUGHT STAGNATION'S END."**

The giant's body began to emanate a white light. A soft sharp sound could be heard, like a small fire that was doused with fire dust.

Wiess began to feel the air heat up around her, "Wait! something's not righ-"

A thunderous blast rang through the air, Wiess was ripped off her feet and violently thrown away, she smashed into a pile of rubble, her aura had shielded her from damage but that explosion took away most of her reserves and left her in intense pain that caused her to black out for a few seconds.

She got up dazedly from the pile of rubble and looked around for her friends and saw them in similar states, Ruby and Blake were knocked unconscious, Jaune and Yang were carrying them further away from the giant, the rest didn't look well either, with Pyhrra trying to stand and failing, Ren was leaning on Nora's shoulder, it looks like he lost all his aura from that blow.

Wiess looked back to the giant and saw it was resuming its rampage, almost as if they had done nothing, like they were mere insects who were biting at its ankles.

only now did she truly realize the situation she was in, this thing wasn't something they could actually beat, they needed years of study to fight Grimm, as it stands they know next to nothing about this enemy, she regretted agreeing to come out here, jaune was right. They can't fight this thing.

An explosion rang through the air, it wasn't like the one before, this one sounded like an explosive.

She looked towards the giant and saw it staggering as plume of flame seared its face, multiple bullheads circled around the giant, they had the vale military symbol emblazoned on them.

The sounds of bullheads and missiles filled the air around her, sirens blared and she heard the sounds of vehicles pulling up behind them.

"what are you doing out here?!"

Wiess turned around to see the paramedics had arrived and were loading up the injured into the vehicle

She tried to respond but no words came out of her mouth, it was almost as if in that very moment she truly realized how foolish they were and how powerful that thing was.

The paramedic tried to shake her but she didn't respond.

"she's in shock, carry her to the ambulance!" he yelled to his nearby colleague.

"fuck, there's almost no one else who survived besides these kids" one of the paramedics cursed, they arrived expecting to tend to more injured but that thing was efficient. There's almost no survivors.

She got into the same ambulance as Ruby, the bright lights and medical equipment greeting her, the paramedics were rushing around Ruby, adding pulse sensors and breathing apparatuses.

"damn, she's got some broken ribs, one pierced the lung, Violet! Get a tube into the pleural space!"

Wiess's heart froze, she wanted to cry then and there, she was the one responsible for the plan, what if their teammates didn't recover from this, what if that force attack had a lasting effect? Her eyes widened in panic. She'd never forgive herself if that happened, she was so stupid! She pulled at her hair with both hands. How could she think that fighting a giant fucking skeleton was a good idea, had she gotten so complacent that she could throw away the lives of her friends this easily.

She began to panic, her breath becoming erratic.

Another paramedic noticed this and put a hand on her shoulder, "hey don't worry, she'll make it. Are you her sister?"

"teammate..." she whispered, she couldn't bring herself to look at him or at Ruby.

This was her fault.

* * *

The wind howled through a forest thick with trees and plants, the leaves riding the wind like a dragon might take to the skies, moss clung to the root of every tree scaling them all the way to its branches almost as if they are trying to reach into the stars above. the constant sounds of birds and animals echoed in the forest. Dense vegetation sprouted from every corner of the forest, indicative of the amount of human contact this place receives.

A lone figure trudged through this verdant landscape, his boots squelching against wet dirt, he wore a black cloak that covered his entire body and head, black armored leg guards with red linings running across it could be seen peeking out from under the cloak.

He stopped for a moment to smell the air, he detected a faint smell of salt, he was getting closer to the sea.

He heard a small rustle in the bushes behind him, an ordinary man would have attributed that to a small animal or perhaps the wind, but the fact that the animal noises that were so prevalent had vanished meant something else.

And he was no ordinary man.

He turned immediately raised his hand above his head and channeled the primal energies whirling within him, he willed this energy to coalesce into his hand forming a white-hot orb of flame.

Pyromancy is the art of channeling nature itself, and much like nature this power is primordial and chaotic, one must spend years understanding the nature of flame and every time they cast a pyromancy they must invoke that understanding, it is no coincidence that the greatest masters of pyromancy refuse to utilize it in combat, they held great reverence for fire and understood its unstable nature. Instead they chose to pass on that knowledge to one who was foolish enough or perhaps desperate enough to use them anyway.

The fire orb exploded against the creature hidden in the bushes, it tore it to pieces of black flesh and white bone.

The Ash looked around. his sight, enhanced by thousands of years of combat in every environment imaginable from the darkest of the abyss to the golden city of Anor Londo.

He saw five other beasts emerging from the tree line, no doubt spurred on by the death of their comrade. They resembled oversized wolves, walking on hind legs with bone plates covering their faces and red coals for eyes.

He had seen these creatures before, yet another reason to carry out his duty.

The abyss.

There was no doubt in his mind these creatures were somehow connected to the abyss, that unmistakable black mist that clings to their fur, those raging eyes vying only for destruction.

Humanity once lived in the abyss, nay. Humans are creatures of the abyss. They were born of the dark and channeled that power alongside Gwyn to battle the dragons but that birthright was taken from them. Now even their own home wants to slay them it seems.

Three of the beasts charged him each from a different direction, it seems they aren't as mindless as he thought, they thought that if they split up then they can move through his guard.

The champion chuckled.

"Verily thou art beasts, to not kneel before royalty."

A great blaze ignited with the Ash at its core, it formed a ball of gleaming flame that swallowed all five beasts whole, it expanded into an explosion that wiped out the nearby vegetation.

The Ashen one let out a breath and looked around, once an emerald paradise now a swath of grey Ashland, he made sure to limit the power of the explosion as much as possible but it seems the first flame is amplifying his power without his consent, he had torn a chunk out of the forest.

He tapped into the strength of the flame, its ability to sense life was just one of the many boons it gave him, after all. The first flame was the source of everything in this world, from it came life, death, time and light. It had the potential to grant him even greater power but he has yet to learn to use it.

He hadn't had a chance to experiment with the flame, as soon as he awoke he was overwhelmed by his failure to protect Humanity and with all the revelations that followed he couldn't sit idly playing with a new toy, he had already sent Wolnir to the great city, he was to be the first. A small taste of the things to come.

Much like how his trials had strengthened him to the being he was today, he would do the same to Humanity to ensure they are never overtaken. Gwyn's kingdom perished because he grew complacent, he let his people grow weak and frail then he appeared as the chosen undead and wiped most of them out, he would do what Gwyn could not. He would make sure this age lasts forever.

He pressed on towards the sea, walking continuously for two days, undead had no need for rest or sleep so this journey was not tiring for him. On the dawn of the third day he reached the shore and saw a dock filled with ships. a simple thing made of wooden floorboards that stretched besides the shore. This was good, he planned on perhaps building a boat or maybe trying to swim to his destination but this makes it much easier.

He approached a man standing near the dock entrance, "I require a vessel to take me to this great desert" the Ash pulled out a map he had acquired from the explorers and pointed towards a desert landmass west of the map, despite them speaking the same language he couldn't read the words on it but the continent's positions are still relatively similar.

"mighty odd way of speakin you got there friend" the man smiled at him "those ships over there can take ya to Vacuo friend" he pointed towards a group of brown ships at the left edge of the docks.

The Lord of Hollows nodded once towards the man and made his way towards one of the ships.

"I seek passage to Vacuo"

"huh? We don't leave until tomorrow pal, also I hope you aren't thinking about getting on for free, with that cloak of yours your pockets look a little light." the man snorted.

"of course," The champion of ash raised his hand over the man's face, a soft pink light poured from his palm, the man's eyes grew glossy and his head drooped a little lower.

Rapport was a special type of pyromancy that allowed a user to charm another person, it used a living being's natural allure to flame to twist the mind and bend their way of thinking slightly, normally the extent of this ability was to blur the line between friend and foe, forcing enemies to fight each other or ally with the caster, but with the first flame's influence the nature of the pyromancy shifts causing it to completely enrapture the victim instead.

"I'll go and get the rest of the crew" the man spoke lifelessly.

The Ashen One got on the ship and sat on one of the benches. It took a few minutes for the rest of the crew to get on board, each of them was confused but relented to their captain's decision.

An hour later the ship left the docks and was headed towards Vacuo. The champion of Ash looked over the sea and wondered what sort of creatures lived beneath such bodies of water. He never had the time to go and explore the sea, his earliest memories were of him counting the tiles in his cell in the undead asylum Millennia ago. He had heard tales that the Varangian warriors once fought massive sea monsters and discovered an island upon which nightmarish horrors resided. He would have loved to visit such a place but he lacked the means to find it. Perhaps they would have made worthy beasts to do battle with.

He looked up towards the dawning sun. soon he will reach the land where that city once resided, the capital of Humanity.

The Ringed City.

* * *

 _ **thank you for reading. if you have any criticisms please feel try to write a review. every criticism helps me improve. i'd have never made it this far without the insightful tips reviewers.**_

 _ **special thanks to** **Knucklejoe8**_ _**he helped me alot when i was starting out**_


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